Launching from new location

I found out last week that LaunchBox Digital, the incubator I was a summer associate for last year, is relocating from Washington D.C. to the Research Triangle in North Carolina in the fall of 2010.  Since I focus the content of this blog on early stage startup and entrepreneurial communities and LaunchBox Digital is a program that has had a pivotal impact on the lives of many in those communities--including my own--I thought I would write a bit more about the program here.

The way LaunchBox Digital works is that they make an investment in your company in exchange for a percent of ownership (and the option for further investment), and then spend the next 12 weeks mentoring you, exposing you to a range of speakers and providing access to a network of influential advisers. In other words, they provide you with a highly concentrated dose of everything needed for success.

As an associate, I participated week in and week out in the update meetings of each of the portfolio companies and witnessed up close how much time, energy and thought each of the partners invested into each of them. Having the ability to focus exclusively on their businesses and tap into such a wealth of knowledge and talent, including one another, gave the portfolio companies the opportunity to  accomplish a tremendous amount in a short period of time.  

I asked John McKinley, one of the founders of LaunchBox Digital, what impact he thought the change in environment from Washington D.C. to North Carolina would have on participants in the program. He said:

"Success for an early stage company is helped by a few important external factors.  Access to capital, especially in the earlier and most formative stage of the business, is important, but the most important thing that can make a huge difference in your survival rate is advice and counsel of those who have been in your shoes before. That comes from both seasoned entrepreneurs, but also from your peers who are pursuing their own similar dreams. We expanded LaunchBox Digital to [the] Research Triangle because we saw that both veteran and early stage entrepreneurs were more than willing to pitch in to make the area an even better place for startups."

It is widely known that a high percentage of startups fail, which makes participation in a program like LaunchBox Digital all the more valuable. I'm very excited for the LaunchBox Digital team, I hope North Carolina knows how lucky they are to have them.

By

Alexis Rodich

 |  April 21, 2010; 10:35 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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